How Does Sports Handicapping Work?

The seemingly simple question of “How does sports handicapping work?” has anything but a simple answer. Betting on sports is a 365 day/year grind that forces handicappers to sift through countless metrics like betting trends, situational and scheduling analysis, and finding value in the numbers to uncover winning wagers. It’s a highly intense process that when done right can be very rewarding.

Sports Handicapping Services

Sports fans that get into sports handicapping for recreational purposes, to begin with, tend to gravitate towards various sports handicapping services to help them beat the betting line.

While this may be a decent strategy for new bettors to help get a better grasp and understanding of everything that goes into making a bet, in the long term, relying on sports handicapping services can be highly detrimental to one’s betting bankroll. With the break even percentage on sports betting picks being around 52.4% on point spreads and totals with -110 odds, adding in handicapping service fees on top of that makes it increasingly harder to turn a profit.

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Monday 19 November

FT

Dallas Stars

1 - 2

New York Rangers

–

–

AOT

Buffalo Sabres

5 - 4

Pittsburgh Penguins

–

–

FT

Jackets

2 - 4

Toronto Maple Leafs

–

–

FT

Florida Panthers

7 - 5

Ottawa Senators

–

–

AOT

Washington Capitals

5 - 4

Montreal Canadiens

–

–

FT

Los Angeles Kings

2 - 0

St. Louis Blues

–

–

FT

Tampa Bay Lightning

2 - 3

Nashville Predators

–

–

FT

Knights

2 - 7

Calgary Flames

–

–

FT

Winnipeg Jets

6 - 3

Vancouver Canucks

–

–

Tuesday 20 November

AOT

Edmonton Oilers

4 - 3

San Jose Sharks

–

–

Wednesday 21 November

FT

New York Islanders

0 - 5

New York Rangers

–

–

FT

Dallas Stars

1 - 5

Pittsburgh Penguins

–

–

FT

Chicago Blackhawks

2 - 4

Washington Capitals

–

–

FT

Toronto Maple Leafs

2 - 5

Carolina Hurricanes

–

–

FT

Montreal Canadiens

2 - 5

New Jersey Devils

–

–

FT

Florida Panthers

3 - 7

Tampa Bay Lightning

–

–

AOT

Boston Bruins

2 - 3

Detroit Red Wings

–

–

FT

Philadelphia Flyers

2 - 5

Buffalo Sabres

–

–

FT

St. Louis Blues

1 - 4

Nashville Predators

–

–

FT

Ottawa Senators

4 - 6

Minnesota Wild

–

–

AOT

Knights

3 - 2

Arizona Coyotes

–

–

FT

Vancouver Canucks

3 - 4

Anaheim Ducks

–

–

FT

Winnipeg Jets

3 - 6

Calgary Flames

–

–

FT

Colorado Avalanche

7 - 3

Los Angeles Kings

–

–

Friday 23 November

New York Rangers

13:00

Philadelphia Flyers

–

–

New York Islanders

16:00

New Jersey Devils

–

–

Detroit Red Wings

16:00

Washington Capitals

–

–

Edmonton Oilers

16:00

Anaheim Ducks

–

–

Winnipeg Jets

16:00

Minnesota Wild

–

–

Montreal Canadiens

16:00

Buffalo Sabres

–

–

Calgary Flames

18:00

Knights

–

–

Toronto Maple Leafs

19:00

Jackets

–

–

Pittsburgh Penguins

19:30

Boston Bruins

–

–

Chicago Blackhawks

19:30

Tampa Bay Lightning

–

–

Florida Panthers

19:30

Carolina Hurricanes

–

–

Nashville Predators

20:00

St. Louis Blues

–

–

Colorado Avalanche

20:00

Arizona Coyotes

–

–

Ottawa Senators

20:00

Dallas Stars

–

–

Vancouver Canucks

21:00

San Jose Sharks

–

–

Saturday 24 November

Washington Capitals

14:00

New York Rangers

–

–

Buffalo Sabres

19:00

Detroit Red Wings

–

–

Chicago Blackhawks

19:00

Florida Panthers

–

–

Carolina Hurricanes

19:00

New York Islanders

–

–

Jackets

19:00

Pittsburgh Penguins

–

–

Philadelphia Flyers

19:00

Toronto Maple Leafs

–

–

Boston Bruins

19:00

Montreal Canadiens

–

–

Winnipeg Jets

19:00

St. Louis Blues

–

–

Dallas Stars

21:00

Colorado Avalanche

–

–

San Jose Sharks

22:00

Knights

–

–

Vancouver Canucks

22:00

Los Angeles Kings

–

–

Sunday 25 November

Calgary Flames

15:00

Arizona Coyotes

–

–

New Jersey Devils

19:00

Tampa Bay Lightning

–

–

Anaheim Ducks

20:00

Nashville Predators

–

–

Edmonton Oilers

22:30

Los Angeles Kings

–

–

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If you have decided to go the route of a handicapping service, know that’s what you’re getting into when you begin and once you’ve got a firm grasp of what trends/numbers/situations to look for yourself, stick to doing the work and trusting your own skill with your bets. After all, it’s your money you are betting with so wouldn’t you rather live and die with the results knowing they were your decisions? Win or lose that always feels better then simply tailing someone else’s plays who has access to all the same information you do.

To be a good sports handicapper takes time, experience, and a little luck and if you treat it like a business and do the homework, it will end up paying out like a business.

Tips To Become An Expert Online Sports Handicapper

In the end, there are no blanket statements or tips that can help one start beating the sportsbooks consistently. If you are a sports fan at heart, you’ll already have a decent understanding of tough scheduling spots, mismatches in talent on the field, and how particular matchups should play out. Sports betting is very different than simply being a fan though as you should never fall in love with teams/players as fans do. Sports betting is a numbers game and with the key being to find edges in how the numbers are lined. You should live by the idea of betting ‘numbers’ not teams. If you do the digging with your homework, the results will take care of themselves.

Super Bowl LIII takes place on February 3rd at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. An unprecedented offensive outburst from the league this season promises a high-scoring championship game. NFL Super Bowl futures over the stretch run features the Rams, Saints, Chiefs and Patriots as popular favorites. Clubs like the Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers offer superb value as potential contenders.

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An unprecedented Stanley Cup finals in 2018 witnessed the first ever championship for the Washington Capitals, who defeated the Vegas Golden Knights expansion club. The modern NHL features greater parity than ever, with as many as ten clubs capable of challenging for a Stanley Cup. This guide to NHL outrights in 2018-19 outlines odds and analysis for all teams in the eastern and western conference.

October is the best month in baseball, as the MLB playoffs begin the post season journey to the World Series. For the first time in history, four elimination games were played before the divisional round, including a pair of tiebreakers and wild card matchups. Favorites like the Red Sox, Astros and Dodgers will be challenged by clubs who’ve been in playoff mode for nearly a month, giving underdogs a shot at pulling off big upsets on the way to the World Series.

Week three in the NFL begins with a potentially historic Thursday night matchup between the Browns and the Jets, as Cleveland attempts to snap their losing streak in front of a long-suffering crowd. The L.A. Rams and the Minnesota Vikings look ready to assert their dominance over the NFC, while the Chiefs and the Falcons represent superb value for ATS NFL betting lines after a strong start to the 2018 season.